Opinion: Paul Ryan’s Ambitious Antipoverty Plan

American Enterprise Institute Fellow Robert Doar on the House Budget Chairman’s proposal to get more Americans back to work. Photo credit: Associated Press.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... the ... a stability dollars each year ... I need to programs at the federal level just to fight poverty ... in yet ... with the highest poverty rate in a generation ... deep poverty is near record heights ... we take a step back in you look at all of this you've got to think we can do better than this ... welcome to Opinion Journal I'm Mary Kissel that was House budget chairman Paul Ryan ... say that America can do better fighting poverty he outlined an ambitious plan this morning to combat it ... but what's a body pay attention ... I've got American Enterprise Institute Fellow Robert Goren a former welfare commissioner of New York City ... joining me now Robert what's the big idea here getting people back to work or just cutting back on welfare programs ... but steadily getting people back to work the most shocking thing about are the surprising thing is is no cuts to the social services spending it all in the Paul Ryan suggested that he's keeping funding level ... nice try to make her Provenge more effective ... in doing so he showed he's really done his homework he's talked a lot of people people like me who work in social services programs ... not just in Washington but around the country ... well the the the slide as the main points of his program ... I'd start by streamlining the programs also something called opportunity grants for states ... Prober what kind of flexibility when he gave the states ... well he says quite a lot of flexibility you know these programs come and states and cities in an actually people in all kinds of differ ways a very complicated and very difficult and hard to navigate and certainly hard to make it coherent ... and by private putting it all in one grave he saying the States you can use this in a unified way comprehensive way ... in a way that healers assistance to a particular individual ... that's enormously attractive to people that are trying to navigate all these different programs ... now ... I notice that part of his plan is expanding the earned income tax credit I know ... there's disagreement among conservatives as to whether or not this is a good thing to do ... for you on that robber ... I'm for extending the life work for Michael Bloomberg in year to the weekend and year seven years ago proposing expanding the earned income tax credit ... for ... childless adults it's very generous now for single parents with children ... but for people that are equally foreign struggling in facing difficult circumstances especially young man ... by young African American Hispanic men in the cities ... of your income tax to really offers nothing now and I think what you're Ryan is trying to get at ... is the solution to help them ... now that you really focus on welfare programs are defense the anti poverty program ... necessarily have to be more expansive address things like education and our criminal justice system ... no question about that that's another great thing about the proposal is that he really nice is that you don't fight poverty only with poverty programs you also have to bring in education ... criminal justice regulatory reform ... all of which are extremely important ... ensure dryish all that he clearly cares about this issue and wants to ... to advance ideas and start a discussion about significant change ... to help low income American Robert I'm missing you were quoted in Paul Ryan's report here obviously talking to Republicans about anti poverty initiatives ... iron set ... is also showing interest in tackling rising poverty in this country ... well you have to say they have an interest I think they're disappointed in the record of the last five years I mean ... the last time we ate year over year declines in poverty especially for after American children ... was the late nineties after welfare reform and the beginning of two thousand ... the really the last five or six or seven years of not been great years the economy is weak ... and our programs are not working to require work ... and will work appropriately and that that's the problem in order to really help people BFF our programs always helping people in the labor force plus as I said to be happening sounds like common sense to me let's encourage people to work out so many pays attention to this plan ... AEI fellow Robert or thank you so much for joining us ... thanks